By Jon Alba
Measures are slowly being taken across the NCAA to ensure athletes, and more specifically, basketball players, receive financial assistance on expenses not covered by scholarships. The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference has officially joined the bandwagon for such a cause.
The MAAC Council of Presidents approved a vote last week requiring the conference’s schools to give basketball players “cost of attendance” financial aid in addition to their scholarships they may already have. The ruling will only be made official if the NCAA approves a proposal by the five power conferences at its convention Jan. 17 that would allow for the standardization of the practice across Division I schools for the sport. Each conference would have the option of choosing whether to participate in it or not.
“This is part of the changing landscape of Division I athletics,” said Jack McDonald, director of athletics and recreation at Quinnipiac University. “Whether we agree with this cost of attendance or not, for Quinnipiac to maintain its high level of both basketball and academics, we want to do whatever the MAAC thinks is right.”
Cost of attendance funding is different from a full athletic scholarship. This money would be separate from the room and board, books and tuition traditionally covered by the latter. McDonald said he expected the NCAA to approve the measure.
While Siena Athletic Director John D’Argenio estimated the additional funding would cost his school between $70,000 and $80,000 per year, McDonald tells Q30 Sports an exact number hasn’t been put together for Quinnipiac.
“We haven’t really sharpened our pencils yet to see what the impact of this will be,” he said.
Quinnipiac tuition sits around $40,000, as per College Board, with further expenses potentially bringing the private school well above $57,000 to attend. Cost of attendance figures vary per school, though in 2012, the NCAA struck down a proposal that would have seen each athlete receive a $2,000 stipend to cover outside expenses similar to what cost of attendance funding would assist with.
McDonald confirmed the money, whatever the amount is, would come through the athletic department’s allotted budget. July marks the beginning of the calendar year for new budgets at the school. He noted he does not expect the move to go beyond basketball for the 2015-2016 school year, though said its expansion to other sports in the future is possible.
The school already has $5 million committed to renovations and new facilities as part of a Title IX settlement in 2013. The process of attempting to upgrade additional athletics-related buildings and fields has resulted in a dispute with Hamden township, with millions of dollars in potential spending sitting in abeyance.
Quinnipiac’s faculty senate explored a vote of “no confidence” on President John Lahey last summer after 16 faculty members were laid off in a cost-cutting maneuver that saw the school attempting recover from a $1.6 million budget gap. During this process, members of Quinnipiac Athletics confirmed to Q30 Sports the department, like many others at the school, received budget cuts.
It was recently noted Lahey made nearly $4 million in 2012, his 25th year at the school, after his retirement plan vested
The 63-year-old McDonald will retire following the 2014-2015 school year after 20 years at the helm.
